This is Reality (Isabel)

It's an average day in the market. Your parents sent you go try and trade some of the fresh cinnamon bread they made for a bit of fresh fruit. You've been looking hard all day, but the only fruit you can afford is filled with worms, and you're about to give up. Your family has somehow managed to stay afloat up until now, but the economy is just getting worse and worse and food is getting really hard to find. Only the rich can afford anything, and only they have anything worth selling. The poor are stuck on the lowest social ladder, doomed to be forever peasants. Sometimes you wonder if your family might be better off without you. You have 2 older sisters, a little brother, and a baby cousin all living in one cramped room. Your older brother shares a room with your parents and grandfather. You all work hard at your small jobs and help out at the shop, even Baby Lisa, but you can almost count your ribs.You can't continue to live like this, you just can't.

You're examining a semi-fresh pear for a reasonable enough price when you hear people shouting. Then a deafening boom reaches your ears and thick smoke fills the air. You start coughing, asthma choking you. Crowds begin to rush past you, not even noticing you, trampling you. You're pushed to the ground, gasping for breath.You're kicked, stepped on, squished. You're going to die here, you're sure of it! You just hope your family will be ok...

Rough hands wrap around your wrist and pull you up.

"Come with me!" You're not sure if you really heard anyone talk to you or not, over this noise, but you blindly follow the good samaritan who saved your life. They pull you into a dead end alley and set you down onto the ground.

"Hey, calm down," they say, "breathe." Catching your breath, you take a good look at your rescuer. It's a man with broad shoulders and messy brown hair.

"Hello Isabel. What are you doing here? Do you need any help? You can come with me, if you need to." You realize that Charles think that you are homeless, an orphan like so many others here.Do you...?

A) try to go home,B) wait until the crowds thin out before going home,C) ask about the explosion,D) or go with Charles?

A, Isabel replied on Saturday, February 05, 2011 at 1:11 AM: D) go with CharlesHey, there might be adventure out there! (though I'd probably want him to take care of my family if he were to help me)

Reuben, Katherine replied on Monday, February 07, 2011 at 11:21 PM: Isabel:"Sure, I'll go with you," you say, still a little thrown off from the explosion. Charles nods and takes your arm, leading you through the maze of buildings and out onto the streets. It takes a while before you reach a construction site. Charles helps you through a hole in the fence before he climbs over and shows you to a deep pit, the foundations for a building. It's a two story drop, and you feel a bit queezy peering into it. You never did like heights...

"Here," Charles tells you, "put on this harness." You both walk very carefully onto the metal rods placed over the pit and attatch the harness.

"You ready?" Charles asks you. He waits for you to nod before stepping off the support and free falling for a minute. Shaking, you follow.

It's a rush, you'll admit that. A terrifying rush, but a rush all the same. Then you're on the ground. Not the most limber person around, you don't land on your feet until your weight swings them down, and even then, you sway a little before standing. You see Charles pushing a button to release the harness, and you copy him. Charles drags it under a nearby tar mat and then walks over to a large barell with the top arranged into two doors. He opens them, revealing a tunnel on the other end. He crawls through the door and stands up, grabbing a lattern and starting down.

You and Charles both walk silently. Somewhere down the tunnel, water is dripping through a crack. The effect is a bit frightening, but you can't help be excited. This is such an adventure! it's just like in books! If you're lucky, you'll be the hero, and you and your family might get some food. You can't help the big smile that spreads across your face at the thought.

Slowly the tunnel begins to get lighter. The light is slightly green, casting eery shadows on the wall. The tunnel begins to widen until it is a long hallway with green lanterns settled high up on the walls. The floor and walls are all green, and it's impossible to tell if they are actually green or if it is just an illusion of the light. After what seems like forever, you reach a big green door. Charles reaches out and knocks.

The door creaks open seemingly on its own. You peer into the darkened room where the only light seems to struggle to escape from behind thick green lampshades. Beds with green and gold comforters line the walls. There is a small dining table in the middle of the long room. There's no one in sight.

"This is our group's safe place," Charles says, interupting your train of thought, "I'm currently traveling with two friends of mine and a boy we picked up. After that bomb went off, we're going to stay here for a little while. Others live here, too, but they must be a little weary of showing themselves to you." Do you...?

Reuben, Katherine replied on Thursday, March 03, 2011 at 1:41 AM: Isabel:"What on earth are you talking about?" you demand. Charles hesitates, but slowly nods.

"Alright, I think it's safe to tell you. You are aware of the nuclear war that wiped out much of the earth's population a decade or two back, right? Of course you are. Everyone is. So you're aware of how scarce materials are, how hard it is to find good food, how even the few remaining survivors fight like crazy. And through it all, the few rich terroristic mobs watch us. This is no way to live! And so we're going to change things. We are a small group of survivors. Our goal is to bring down those who oppress us and set up a more organized system of government. We want to save as many people as possible. No more of these horrible social latters! But we have a problem. Somehow, things that didn't use to be possible are occuring frequently. There are werewolves. Witches. Possibly even rips in reality itself.

"I'm sorry, I'm asking for you to take in a lot. Just know that you're safe here. We can go back and get your family, if you would like. But will you please help our group? We really need more help with the resistance..."Do you...?

A) try to get out of this place; Charles is insane,B) look around first,C) or go to find your family?